Citizens of Southern Oregon’s Rogue River Valley have been complaining since 2007 about helicopters spraying herbicides far too close to drinking water sources and residences. In 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rebuked Oregon’s haphazard and shoddy handling of the complaints. But the powerful timber industry continued spraying their forest clear-cuts, sometimes in windy conditions that guaranteed drift into residential and farm areas.

In October 2013, 15 citizens of the Southern Oregon coast town of Cedar Valley complained of health complications after being exposed to illegally sprayed herbicides. The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) bungled the investigation and refused for six months to tell the people what exactly was making them so ill.

Eventually, the State of Oregon found that a helicopter pilot, Steve Owen, lied to the ODA about what he was spraying on clear-cut forests near the citizens of Cedar Valley, claiming to spray only glyphosate (also known as Monsanto’s popular Roundup brand of herbicide), when he was actually spraying that plus seven other herbicides. The active ingredients in those included sulfometuron methyl; imazapyr; triclopyr; and 2,4-d ester.

The result of the ODA’s investigation was a settlement. The ODA dropped the $20,000 fine it had levied against Steve Owen and his company, Pacific Air Research, in exchange for not disputing that he lied about the chemicals he was spraying too close to people, pets, livestock and drinking water.

For actions the ODA found to be “gross negligence and willful misconduct,” they also revoked Owen’s commercial pesticide applicator’s license for one year. By this time next year, Owen can re-apply for his spraying license and by this time in 2018, the ODA will remove any trace of this incident from its records.

Enter Oregon State Senator Jeff Kruse, who represents the people who have been poisoned from above by pesticide sprayers like Pacific Air Research. Last month, the Senate heard the third reading of House Bill 3549, a pesticide buffer-zone bill prompted by these aerial poisonings. Senator Kruse rose to give the following statement (emphasis mine):

“Those people of the South Coast who complained,” Kruse said, “I know for a fact that the chemicals sprayed could, in no way, shape or form, could have caused the reactions they (said they) caused.

“I also know, those people have a long history of substances and adult beverages that might have contributed to it,” he added. “The two chemicals sprayed did not cause the reactions they have, could not have killed their dogs. They were herbicides; I know this for an absolute fact.”

It seems like Senator Kruse has more belief in Monsanto than his own constituents.

It’s no surprise that as counties in Southern Oregon began petitioning for local bans on genetically-modified (GMO) crops, Senator Kruse was a key co-sponsor of the so-called 2013 Monsanto Protection Act that overruled any local bans on GMOs. During his elected career of 19 years, Senator Kruse has accepted 54 campaign donations totaling $35,172 from the forestry industry, which perhaps best explains his views. That haul is bested only by the $47,000 he’s accepted from the pharmaceutical and $54,900 from medical industries—which may explain some of his views on medical marijuana